Building two schools, adding on to 13 and fixing up all the schools in Rockford District 205 will not magically transform Rockford into a preeminent education community, but it’s a start.

Learning environments matter. New, clean and safe schools make life better for students, teachers and parents who can take pride in the way schools will look as part of the district’s 10-year facilities plan.

No one wants to work in a dumpy building. You know that in your own job that the condition of your workplace affects your job performance and morale. It’s the same for schools.

We’ve seen through the district’s work and the efforts of Sharefest volunteers how sprucing up schools helps build optimism and pride in the district. The facilities plan will build on that momentum and spread it across the district.

Kudos to the School Board for approving the 10-year facilities plan Tuesday night. The facilities task force put almost a year’s worth of work into creating the plan, and residents had their say during 39 public meetings. That work and public feedback was rewarded with Tuesday’s vote.

“I’m happy the School Board recognized all the hard work that went into this process, and I’m looking forward to seeing the improvements,” Superintendent Ehren Jarrett said in a statement released Tuesday night. “For months we’ve been saying we have to give our students a better place to learn and our staff a better place to work. This plan will accomplish that.”

But there’s much more to be done.

New schools were a critical piece of the plan for this Editorial Board and those schools still need voter approval before they can be built.

A referendum will be placed on the Nov. 4 ballot asking voters for permission to build two schools. The issue will not affect voters’ pocketbooks. If voters say no to new schools, the money will be redirected toward existing schools.

The district could have gone ahead and built the schools without taking the question to voters, but school leaders didn’t think that was right. In 2012, voters overwhelmingly gave the district permission to sell $139 million in bonds to fix up schools. New schools were not specifically addressed in the referendum question, which is why officials decided to ask this time.

It’s risky to do so because voters are unpredictable, even though Rockford voters historically have supported schools at the ballot box. There’s no new money involved, but voters increasingly distrust government at all levels, which may be enough for them to cast no votes.

It’s never too early to start courting yes votes, and we expect to hear a sales pitch from a citizens committee soon.

Page 2 of 2 - This administration and School Board should be applauded for being far-sighted enough to create a 10-year plan. That’s especially impressive when you consider past administrations didn’t have the foresight to set aside enough money to maintain schools. The current plan makes up for some of the mistakes of the past and positions the district well for keeping up the physical appearances and meeting the technological needs of its buildings.

This administration and School Board also have been good stewards of taxpayer money. In 2012, the district lowered its tax levy by $16 million, which led to smaller property tax bills for 67 percent of Rockford homeowners. It held the line on the tax levy last year. You can’t say that about many taxing entities in the Rock River Valley.

In the classroom, the academies at the high schools are an innovative approach to prepare students for a future in the workforce.